No closure after 30 years for abuse victim

WORCESTER — Look into a child's eyes. There is hope, innocence and the prospect of an unknown future. All those things and more were taken from John F. Mineau Jr. before his first birthday.

When police were called to 163½ Grand Street around 10:40 a.m. on June 30, 1984, they found baby John dead. He was 8 months and 11 days old.

Now, 30 years later, his death remains unsolved. Those 30 years have torn at baby John's mother, Nannette Laythe. She relives the day she found her son unresponsive.

"His life was stolen from him and it was stolen from me. I had dreams for him," the now 49-year-old mother said.

Ms. Laythe, who still lives in Central Massachusetts, said she wants justice for her son. Since the day she, as a 19-year-old, carried him from UMass Memorial Medical Center — Memorial Campus on Belmont Street, she thought of all that was ahead for her son.

She has dreamed about the days he would have walked, ridden his first bicycle — and the first time he would fall in love.

"He was everything to me. He was my life. I wanted him more than anything in the world. I would have given my whole life. I would have given anything for him," she said during an emotional interview. "My son deserves justice. I wanted to have a big family, too, and he started that family. He was the first of many that I wanted and looked forward to."

The investigation has taken detectives on a long search for answers. They ruled out the playpen as a cause of death; they ruled out sudden infant death syndrome. An autopsy came back with a conclusion — death by child abuse.

"There was an array of injuries. There were some injuries to the feet, some injuries to the hands," Worcester Police Unresolved Homicide Unit Detective Daniel F. Sullivan said. "There were some injuries to the chest that were discovered on X-ray."

The child had fingernails missing. There was what appeared to be a bite mark on him.

"In speaking to the investigators who we've been in contact with who did this case, it definitely seems like this kid's eight months here on Earth were very difficult," Detective Sullivan said.

There was a limited group of people who had access to the baby. Worcester investigators will not disclose the names. Ms. Laythe said she was ruled out by police as a suspect.

Baby John's father is listed as John F. Mineau. City records show a marriage intention was filed for Mr. Mineau and Ms. Laythe, but he left her and they were never married. She was not living with him on Grand Street at the time of the child's death.

Police interviewed those in contact with the infant. There was never enough evidence to bring criminal charges.

"A small baby like that — there is a small group of people who have access to that baby," Detective Sullivan said. "So obviously the field of suspects is very small and very intense and no one wants to come out and point fingers."

Ms. Laythe rocked her son to sleep the night before his death. She sang him songs and placed him in bed. The following morning she woke and followed her daily ritual of getting her son ready for the day.

She stood in her son's doorway. She liked to watch him smile in his sleep.

But that morning something was wrong. John looked different. He wasn't breathing. He wasn't responsive.

"I called out," Ms. Laythe said. "He wouldn't respond to me."

Ms. Laythe ran to a neighbor's apartment, screaming for help.

Those in contact with the child gave statements to detectives, according to retired Worcester detective and former Auburn police chief Ronald W. Miller. He was lead investigator on the case.

"That's one of the problems when investigating a child's death. Their social contacts are very limited," Mr. Miller said. "In one way that seems like that would be a good thing. The other problem with that is that this limited number of contacts usually have shared extended time with the child where they are alone with the child because primarily they're caretakers, either permanent caretakers or temporary caretakers.

"So it's very difficult even though there's a smaller number of players; it's very difficult to point your finger at one over the other."

He became suspicious as the investigation continued. The autopsy only confirmed his suspicions. Photographs were taken at the scene. Evidence swabs were collected as well.

"Child cases usually stick with you for a very long time. All unsolved cases, unresolved cases, kind of stick with you because you often sit back and think what could I have done better?" Mr. Miller said. "Was there something I overlooked? I'm pretty sure in my own mind that I did everything possible in this particular case."

The Telegram & Gazette found a posting about the case on a website for people who have lost children. The listing is for the Camden County, N.J., chapter of The Compassionate Friends. Ms. Laythe confirmed she wrote the post for her son in December 2002.

It reads: "I carry the guilt in my heart thinking there must have been something I could have done to save your life; but someone else thought differently and made their decision to take you away from me. Because he saw how much I loved you and even God couldn't intervene and stop this person (my heart breaks, after all this time)."

Now married with a grown son and grandchildren, Ms. Laythe still feels like that 19-year-old girl. She feels trapped in a time that altered her life forever.

"There's a part of me that's not here. I'm not a whole person. And nobody except parents of murdered children know. Part of me died when he died," Ms. Laythe said. "It's hard because it's unfinished business that I've had to deal with this pain for 30 years."